Clutter looks harmless until you live with it. It’s the shoes by the door that turn into a pile, the mail that never quite lands in a folder, the laundry that migrates from basket to chair to “I’ll deal with it later.” For some people, that’s background noise. For others, it’s like trying to relax…
Every few weeks, social media serves up a new kind of honesty: parents saying they love their kids… and also don’t want to be around them. Not “I need a break,” but “I only have about 10–15 minutes in me a day,” or “I don’t want to play,” or “My kids irritate me nonstop.” I…
https://firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/pexels-olly-3820210-scaled.jpg14542048Lauren Hallhttps://firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-02-03 08:00:002026-01-30 11:45:37When “I Don’t Want to Parent” Goes Viral, Kids Still Have to Live There
Most of us learned “basic needs” as a short list: food, water, shelter, safety. Useful, yes. Complete? Not really. Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child is asking us to widen the list with something that sounds soft but works like a load-bearing wall: mattering. In their working paper Mattering in Early Childhood, they define mattering…
https://firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/pexels-alliefeeley-20671757-scaled.jpg20481536Lauren Hallhttps://firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-01-25 08:00:002026-01-20 12:33:29Why Mattering Matters, Especially for Children
The Mental Load Behind the Mess
Clutter looks harmless until you live with it. It’s the shoes by the door that turn into a pile, the mail that never quite lands in a folder, the laundry that migrates from basket to chair to “I’ll deal with it later.” For some people, that’s background noise. For others, it’s like trying to relax…
When “I Don’t Want to Parent” Goes Viral, Kids Still Have to Live There
Every few weeks, social media serves up a new kind of honesty: parents saying they love their kids… and also don’t want to be around them. Not “I need a break,” but “I only have about 10–15 minutes in me a day,” or “I don’t want to play,” or “My kids irritate me nonstop.” I…
Why Mattering Matters, Especially for Children
Most of us learned “basic needs” as a short list: food, water, shelter, safety. Useful, yes. Complete? Not really. Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child is asking us to widen the list with something that sounds soft but works like a load-bearing wall: mattering. In their working paper Mattering in Early Childhood, they define mattering…